Winter Weather Advisory: New York May Get 5-8 Inches of Snow Tonight

Winter’s here: Just days after pleasant holiday dinners, New York gets hit with challenging weather. The mayor and other city representatives held a weather preparedness press conference today to address any snow-related questions and ensure New Yorkers of the city’s weather emergency plans.

According to the National Weather Service the initial expectation for snow is two to four inches across the city, with heavier snowfall in the more northern parts of the city with up to five to eight inches. Today’s rain-turned-snow slush will correlate with the evening rush hour.

“As we have learned with previous storms they can come faster and they can be larger than originally projected,” Mayor De Blasio said today at a press conference. “So, the fact that we’ve got five to eight inches projected for some parts of the city should make everyone quite aware that number could go up and could go up quickly.”

The city and the Sanitation Department have 705 salt spreaders deployed and 1,500 plows ready to start their work once there is enough snow accumulation. The Sanitation Department has already spread liquid brine on the highway ramps in advance.

From past storms, the city has learned sanitation plows need quick access to areas, so from now on the NYPD will be escorting Sanitation plows when necessary, the mayor said, like through a traffic jam.

The Department of Education has now installed GPS tracking on the city’s school buses and parents can now find out what’s happening with their child. Check in real time for the location of your child’s school bus by calling 718-392-8855.

Schools were open today and anticipate being open tomorrow.

“Our message out to New Yorkers is that we really urge you to stay off the roads if possible,” said Emergency Management Commissioner Deanne Criswell. “Use mass transit, and we want to alleviate any of the congestion that we might see in that afternoon commute.”

Travel conditions are going to be messy and public transportation is your best option.

Today there’s a steady temperature around 33 and snow. Breezy, with a north wind around 21 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph. Total daytime snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches possible.

Tonight anticipate more snow, mainly before 4 a.m. Low around 30, blustery, with a north wind 20 to 23 mph. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

The National Weather Service has a winter weather advisory until 7 a.m. December 3.